tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/protest-song-48972/articlesProtest song – The Conversation2018-07-15T09:45:22Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/985892018-07-15T09:45:22Z2018-07-15T09:45:22ZCape hip-hop keeps alive tradition of rapping in the voices of the 'less thans'<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227385/original/file-20180712-27027-4chq9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Prophets of da City.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.facebook.com/prophetsofdacity/photos/a.746177712094129.1073741830.719783358066898/1796768840368339/?type=3&amp;theater">Facebook</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Cape region of South Africa has long had <a href="https://www.musicinafrica.net/magazine/hip-hop-south-africa">a vibrant tradition</a> of protest hip-hop music. Cape hip-hop culture has had much to protest about: Colonialism, apartheid, inequality and monolingualism – the use of one, usually dominant, language. For rap groups like the deeply political 1990s crew, <a href="http://livemag.co.za/youth-culture-in-south-africa/remembering-the-iconic-hip-hop-crew-prophets-of-da-city/">Prophets of da City</a>(POC), the challenge was always to present an accurate picture of where they came from, and what their own and their people’s struggles were.</p>
<p>Since colonialism, monolingualism has been the preferred way to define communication in South Africa. This has been tied to the practice of racialising (mainly) black, coloured, and Indian citizens along lines of race, language purity and fealty to the state. The justification for this was that multilingualism – the use of more than two languages – would confuse and complicate everyday communication, particularly the linguistic goals of colonialism and the apartheid state.</p>
<p>POC became the first rap group on the Cape hip-hop scene to sign a recording contract with a major South African record company, <a href="https://www.discogs.com/label/26052-Teal-Trutone-Music">Teal Trutone</a>. They came to prominence in the deeply violent late 1980s as well as early 1990s as the count down to the end of apartheid was beginning.</p>
<p>Early on, POC realised they had to make a strategic linguistic decision – to perform multilingual lyrics and music, versus monolingual lyrics and music, which at the time (and given the political climate of the apartheid government) would threaten to block out potential listeners. As POC rapper Shaheen Ariefdien <a href="http://journals.equinoxpub.com/index.php/JWPM/article/view/36672">put it</a> in an interview in the early 1990s with academic Adam Haupt: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Hip-hop took the language of the ‘less thans’ and embraced it, paraded it, and made it sexy to the point that there is an open pride about what constituted ‘our’ style… to express local reworkings of hip-hop.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>POC embraced the multilingual practices of the <a href="http://epubs.ac.za/index.php/multiling/article/view/246">“less thans”</a>, the downtrodden. In particular they celebrated languages such as Black South African English, Cape Flats English, Cape Coloured English, and especially <em><a href="http://epubs.ac.za/index.php/multiling/article/view/246">Kaaps</a></em>, a black township version of Afrikaans. <em>Kaaps</em> is a working class tongue that stems from the same language roots but is distinctly different to the mainly white <em>Algemeen Beskaafde Afrikaans</em> which was the official language of the ruling class under apartheid.</p>
<p>At first, the group’s rap music was set to <em>Kaaps</em> lyrics and a local variety of English, but later gradually expanded to isiXhosa and Jamaican patois, peppered with various accents. This was an inclusive form of multilingualism, a signal what could be possible if the multilingualism of the “less thans” was taken into consideration.</p>
<h2>Apartheid censorship</h2>
<p>POC’s debut album was called Our World (1990), followed by Boomstyle (1991), Age of Truth (1993), Phunk Phlow (1994), Universal Souljaz (1995) and Ghetto Code (1997).</p>
<p>The group’s early music was produced under the turbulence of apartheid censorship. At the time POC revised their linguistic strategy and began in earnest to paint an authentic and truly multilingual picture of marginalisation in South Africa.</p>
<p>Take their song “Slang 4 your Ass” (from Universal Souljaz). Rapper Ariefdien takes his imagined listener on a lyrical journey as he draws different languages and cultural expressions of what it is like to live in a multicultural and multiracial township.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Alles in die haak broetjie, tjek ‘it ja. (Everything is in order brother, check it yes.)</p>
<p>Solang die ding ruk is dit tzits ounse (As long as its moving along, it’s ok guys)</p>
<p>Is mos soe my broe’! (Just like that my brother!)</p>
<p>Djy wiet dan (You know).</p>
<p>Phashaz, hola ghanzaan (I’m ok, how are you?)</p>
<p>Sien djy my broe (You see my brother)</p>
<p>die bra kick ‘n ander flavou’ uit my broe’ (That brother kicks a different beat my brother).</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The lyrics open up to the outsider how typically multilingual greetings are performed in the township. Multilingualism is celebrated and an array of voices, suppressed by the apartheid government (thankfully unsuccessfully), are given permanence, on wax and in song. It is the sound of inclusivity.</p>
<h2>Language, lyric and rhyme</h2>
<p>The main protagonist in the second section of the song, POC’s Ready D, then colours in the picture to the listener through language, lyric and rhyme: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’m walking around with a head full of thought</p>
<p>Mixting it with my Township Talk</p>
<p>Like</p>
<p>hoe issit? (how are you?)</p>
<p>is djy alright? (Are you alright?)</p>
<p>ek is (I am)</p>
<p>en tjek (Check it out)</p>
<p>dialect into the mic</p>
<p>djy kry? (You see?)</p>
<p>Then I flex it the other way</p>
<p>making them wonder what is going on</p>
<p>Where could this man be from?</p>
<p>Well we get to that later.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>With these lyrics Ready D takes the listener through the ghetto, and showcases what multilingual skills were needed to interact with multilingual speakers.</p>
<p>The message is that you can’t box identities that have been forged through multilingual living in the ghettos of South Africa. The lyrics celebrate ghetto culture, but also protest stereotypes that seek to harm.</p>
<h2>Variety of tongues</h2>
<p>The multilingual tradition in Cape hip-hop continues today. Like Prophets of da City back in the 1990s, rappers still protest in a variety of tongues, often in the same song. It was heard when rap artists added their voices to the recent growing student protests and against the failings on democracy by the African National Congress government. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">20 Years of Democracy /mockery.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This music legacy goes unnoticed by mainstream media although it’s given a lot of attention on social media. An example is “20 Years of Democracy/ Demockery” featuring Crosby, Teba, Spencer, Youngsta CPT, Trenton, Mthunzi, Leandro, Mkosi, Cream, Hipe, Sammy Sparks, Whosane, Clem Reuben and Emile YX?. This release brought together a powerful multilingual ensemble of voices and styles of speaking. Add to that <a href="https://sos1.bandcamp.com/track/must-fall">“Must Fall”</a> by Emile YX? featuring Java, Linkris the Genius, Black Athena, Daddy Spencer, Crosby and Khusta, and it’s clear Cape hip-hop will continue to speak loudly to power.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98589/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Quentin Williams does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>One of South Africa's finest hip-hop crews message was that you couldn't box identities forged through multilingual living in the ghettos.Quentin Williams, Senior Lecturer in Linguistics, University of the Western CapeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/887322018-04-17T13:54:25Z2018-04-17T13:54:25ZMarvin Gaye's 1971 'What's Going On?' remains unanswered today<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212618/original/file-20180329-189807-fofptc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The cover of Marvin Gaye&#39;s album, &#39;What&#39;s Going On&#39;.</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Many protest songs are historical artefacts. They are about a specific time, event, movement or person, often without longevity, and make sense only within a specific context. There are a few exceptions. American soul singer Marvin Gaye’s title track from his 1971 album, <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/song/whats-going-on-mt0030380519">“What’s going on”</a> is a glowing example. </p>
<p>It was released on Motown Records, which had on its roster legendary artists such as Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, The Temptations and the Jackson Five. But the album was the first ever <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rough-Guide-Soul-Music-Guides/dp/1843532646">soul concept album</a>, with the entire record based around protest songs.</p>
<p>Although the 47-year-old song was written at the height of the Vietnam and Cold Wars and ultimately viewed as an American social anthem of the time, it does not detract from the fact that the issues underlying it remain as relevant today as they were back in the time Gaye, and Motown colleagues, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/jul/05/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries">Renaldo “Obie” Benson</a> and <a href="http://hilobrow.com/2015/03/11/al-cleveland/">Al Cleveland</a>, wrote the song. It perhaps as relevant today as the time it was released on January 20, 1971.</p>
<p>Not only is “What’s Going On” a universal anthem about the state of the world, it has also inspired a number of popular, mainstream artists to use their music as social commentary. Among them are contemporary popular artists like Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar and Jay-Z.</p>
<figure>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Marvin Gaye’s classic ‘What’s going on?’.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Police brutality</h2>
<p>Co-composer Obie Benson was a member of the Motown vocal act, the <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-four-tops-mn0000071812/biography">Four Tops</a>. In May 1969 their tour bus arrived in San Francisco where he saw police attacking a crowd of hippies over a disused urban lot called People’s Park. He described the incident to music writer Ben Edmonds in the 2001 book, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/dec/08/extract">What’s Going On: Marvin Gaye and the Last Days of The Motown Sound</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The police was beatin’ on them, but they weren’t bothering anybody. I saw this, and started wondering what the fuck was going on. What is happening here? One question leads to another. Why are they sending kids so far away from their families overseas? Why are they attacking their own children in the streets here?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These questions translated into a song Benson wrote with Cleveland, an in-house Motown composer. But his fellow members in the Four Tops weren’t interested in protest music. Fortunately, Gaye was very keen. Benson said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Marvin already felt like this. He was a rebel, and a real spiritual guy.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Inspired by the harrowing stories told to him by his younger brother Frankie over his Vietnam war experiences, Gaye would eventually make the song his own. He added lyrics and, according to Benson:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>When you heard that song, you could see the people and feel the hurt and pain. We measured him for the suit and he tailored the hell out of it.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Almost never released</h2>
<p>But “What’s Going On” was almost never released. This was a time when Motown was cautious of promoting songs of a political nature. The label’s boss, <a href="https://www.motownmuseum.org/story/berry-gordy/">Berry Gordy</a>, was on holiday in the Bahamas when an excited Gaye phoned him about the new protest song.</p>
<p>As music writer Dorian Lynskey described it in his excellent <a href="https://www.faber.co.uk/9780571241354-33-revolutions-per-minute.html">book</a> on protest music, “33 Revolutions per Minute”:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Gordy responded like a father whose favourite son had just rejected an Ivy League scholarship to become a Yippie. ‘Marvin, don’t be ridiculous. That’s taking things too far’.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>When Gordy heard the song he called it “the worst thing I’ve ever heard in my life”. However, Motown was desperate for new music from Gaye and released it to massive critical and <a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/marvin-gaye/chart-history/hot-100/song/40318">commercial acclaim</a>. </p>
<p>The album was equally successful - it was later <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/653666.The_Rough_Guide_to_Soul_and_R_B">described</a> by music writer Peter Shapiro as having “changed the shape and direction of pop music”.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212621/original/file-20180329-189810-13iu6ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212621/original/file-20180329-189810-13iu6ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212621/original/file-20180329-189810-13iu6ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212621/original/file-20180329-189810-13iu6ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212621/original/file-20180329-189810-13iu6ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212621/original/file-20180329-189810-13iu6ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212621/original/file-20180329-189810-13iu6ks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Motown Records’ headquarters in Detroit at the time of the recording of ‘What’s Going On’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The singer behind the song</h2>
<p>Born in Washington DC, on 2 April 1939, Marvin Pentz Gay Jr grew up in a religious household. His deeply conservative father, Marvin Sr served as a church minister of a Pentecostal church. His mother, Alberta, was a domestic worker. </p>
<p>He didn’t have a happy childhood. He was constantly beaten by his abusive father. As a way of escape, he would find solace in singing. He went on to become one of popular music’s most admired singers and songwriters.</p>
<p>His life came to a <a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/marvin-gaye-is-shot-and-killed-by-his-own-father">sad end</a> on 1 April 1984, a day before his 45th birthday, when he was shot and killed by his father after an argument.</p>
<h2>The context of the song</h2>
<p>“What’s Going On” was released at the time the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-history">Vietnam War</a> was still raging in 1971. Three years before, the black civil rights leader, <a href="https://www.biography.com/people/martin-luther-king-jr-9365086">Martin Luther King Jr </a> had been assassinated. In 1969 <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/richard-m-nixon/">Richard Nixon</a> was elected as America’s 37th president.</p>
<p>America was in a state of turmoil – protests against the Vietnam War resulted in widespread violence and police brutality. </p>
<p>“What’s Going On” was a response to a war that claimed the lives of over 3 million people – more than half of them Vietnamese civilians. The song not only called for an end to the war. It also served as a critique of 1970s America. Drugs, racism and poverty were crippling most inner cities.</p>
<h2>The song’s relevance today</h2>
<p>“What’s Going On” remains relevant today. Even now its plaintive lyrics speak eloquently about a post-9/11 world that’s upside down, with <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b063xz8j">sabre-rattling</a> leaders such as <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b063xz8j">Donald Trump</a> and <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-11388628">Kim Jong-Un</a> grabbing the headlines. Regional <a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2018/01/02/10-conflicts-to-watch-in-2018/">wars</a> continue to claim countless live and force <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/figures-at-a-glance.html">millions</a> to flee their homes.</p>
<p>“What’s Going On” allows us to think – yet again – about whether war is necessary:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We don’t need to escalate</p>
<p>You see, war is not the answer</p>
<p>For only love can conquer hate.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88732/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stewart Maganga does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>"What's Going On" remains relevant today. Even now its plaintive lyrics speak eloquently about a post-9/11 world that's upside down.Stewart Maganga, Lecturer, Catholic University of MalawiLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/886712018-01-28T10:40:21Z2018-01-28T10:40:21Z'The Word': an obscure protest song that still holds relevance 32 years later<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203738/original/file-20180129-100893-ujba58.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Junkyard Band</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">junkyardband.us</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The better protest songs are the universal ones that still remain relevant years after they were first released. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Junkyard-Band-The-Word-Sardines/release/71279">“The Word”</a>, a forgotten gem which was written and recorded in 1985 by The Junkyard Band, is a fine example.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">“The Word” by the Junkyard Band.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://www.beastiemania.com/whois/junkyard_band/">The Junkyard Band</a> was a collective of 10 young musicians from the Barry Farm housing projects in Washington DC in the US. Some were as young as nine-years-old at the time of writing “The Word”. Although the promotional record was issued in 1985, commercial release by <a href="http://www.defjam.com/">Def Jam Recordings</a> only happened the next year. </p>
<p>The Junkyard Band were fundamentally a go-go outfit, the roots of which are firmly anchored in Washington DC and the 1970s funk scene. Go-go has been <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/style/go-go-ma0000004428">described</a> either as a “bass-heavy, funky variation of hip-hop”, or <a href="http://www.beastiemania.com/whois/junkyard_band/">“a derivative of seventies funk”</a> rather than a “sub-set of eighties hip-hop”. </p>
<p>The name of the band came from the fact that they appropriated household objects such as tins, pans, hubcaps and buckets for percussion instruments in lieu of commercial instruments, much like the blues-jazz jug bands of the 1920s. </p>
<p>Unfortunately The Junkyard Band’s discography is limited. Also, in the aftermath of the huge success that “The Word” brought them, Def Jam Recordings focused on raising <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/beastie-boys-mn0000038469">Beastie Boys</a>, <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ll-cool-j-mn0000094752">LL Cool J</a> and <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/public-enemy-mn0000856785">Public Enemy</a> to the international stage, which led to other Def Jam artists receiving less promotion.</p>
<p>Despite this, the band continued to shine in a live context.</p>
<figure>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The Junkyard Band with “Sardines”.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“The Word” was followed by their other important political release “Sardines”. These were their only releases on Def Jam, but they went on to release eight 12"s and five cassette/CD only albums on the Washington label Street Records &amp; Tapes. There last recording was in 1999 but they continue to perform live regionally. </p>
<h2>Inside the song</h2>
<p>“The Word” begins with a front-yard style conversation:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Man, Reagan making bombs with all the money these days.</p>
<p>yeah man, my sister couldn’t even get no school loan.</p>
<p>my grandmother couldn’t even get no food stamps man, damn.</p>
<p>Well, that’s the word these days!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The song then launches into an enormous synthesizer descent as the percussion simultaneously kicks into a rich, go-go swing before calling out the chorus hook: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Talking about W – O – R and that D!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The response is “talking ‘bout the word!”, before dropping into the first verse. </p>
<p>The lyrics throughout are a firm critique of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/feb/07/ronald-reagan-republicans">Reaganomics</a>. In the first verse the narrative is about Momma heading out to the “food stamp place”, whereby upon her asking for food stamps, the response is: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>hey miss, haven’t you heard? The trench is getting deeper for you and your honey, Reagan gave the Pentagon the food stamp money!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The following two verses build on this story, and zoom out of the urban realm to the character “Farmer Brown”, who cannot sell his crops due to spring floods, and the response:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The trench is getting deeper for you and you buddy, Reagan gave the Pentagon the Farmer Brown money!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Farmer Brown is told he’d better “sell that mud”, linking to the narrative in the third verse that opens: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Now they took our land, and they took our home, we gotta find another place, the government is moving in to build an air force base…</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The storyline also harks back to the experiences of the African diaspora, as well as the cultural displacement suffered at the hands of the build programme during 20th century New York masterminded by the powerful city official <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/environment/the-legacy-of-robert-moses/16018/">Robert Moses</a>. </p>
<p>After verse three, the percussion shifts in urgency, and both chorus and rap hooks are repeated with the additional frantic chant of, “Reagan making bombs”, before closing in a typical go-go manner with “get on the good foot, y'all” lyrics over full percussion patterns and synth drops. </p>
<h2>The politics of the time</h2>
<p>Increased spending on nuclear and other weapons as well as cuts in welfare were critical to the content of “The Word”. Living under the threat of nuclear war, “The Word” resonated with its audience. </p>
<p>The song was written at a time that Reagan was ploughing an estimated $110 billion into the <a href="https://science.howstuffworks.com/star-wars-program.htm">Strategic Defense Initiative</a> (SDI). Nicknamed <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Strategic-Defense-Initiative">“Star Wars”</a>, it was planned as the US’s defensive system against potential nuclear attacks at a time when the <a href="https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/modern-world-history-1918-to-1980/the-cold-war/what-was-the-cold-war/">Cold War</a> with the Soviet Union was still intense.</p>
<p>At the same time, Reagan’s <a href="https://www.salon.com/2014/04/19/reaganomics_killed_americas_middle_class_partner/">trickle-down economics</a> were <a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2011/09/20/the-dark-legacy-of-reaganomics/">not working</a> for the lower classes. Over his two terms the national debt grew from USD$997 billion to USD$2.85 trillion.</p>
<p>Those low-income working families were also hit by cuts, with Reagan’s policy focusing solely on non-working families, and an estimated USD$25 billion was cut from programmes affecting the poor.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203392/original/file-20180125-107940-kvpmx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203392/original/file-20180125-107940-kvpmx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=598&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203392/original/file-20180125-107940-kvpmx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=598&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203392/original/file-20180125-107940-kvpmx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=598&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203392/original/file-20180125-107940-kvpmx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=751&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203392/original/file-20180125-107940-kvpmx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=751&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203392/original/file-20180125-107940-kvpmx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=751&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Def Jam sampler which introduced The Junkyard Band to fans outside the US.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Junkyard Band made worldwide impact, partially due to the song’s inclusion on the <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Various-Kick-It-The-Def-Jam-Sampler-Volume-One/release/89879">Kick It! Def Jam sampler</a> which brought the song to hip-hop fans in the UK and Europe.</p>
<p>Thirty two years on the record still holds great relevance. Many of the same key issues challenged by The Junkyard Band in 1985 still rage on today across the globe.</p>
<p>There is Donald Trump’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/trump-is-making-americans-see-the-us-the-way-the-rest-of-the-world-already-did/2017/09/08/50f7c5ac-8ce8-11e7-84c0-02cc069f2c37_story.html?utm_term=.0af2767f4e2a">deepening of the trench</a> between his administration and much of the world, his continuing <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/12/us/politics/trump-obamacare-executive-order-health-insurance.html">threat</a> to Obamacare and <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40882877">heightening tensions</a> with North Korea. </p>
<p>And in the UK Theresa May has gradually been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/28/brexit-nhs-theresa-may-article-50">dissolving</a> the National Health Service and is leading the country out of the European Union.</p>
<p>It is time to tell the people 'bout The Word once again.</p>
<p><em>This article is part of a series featuring Songs of Protest from across the world, genres and generations.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88671/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam de Paor-Evans does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In 1985 The Junkyard Band shifted the paradigm by challenging Reaganomics. Many of those same key issues still rage on today, across the world.Adam de Paor-Evans, Principal Lecturer in Cultural Theory / Research and Innovation Lead, School of Art, Design and Fashion, Faculty of Culture and the Creative Industries, University of Central LancashireLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.